Page 17 of Forgotten Arcane

“No, he doesn’t, although I have no idea how good he actually is at his job, and if some of the shit he let slide was because Kylen had told him to,” Coen replies with a frown.

“That’s fairly easily fixed, we’ll just get Ty to put him through some tests again, maybe he could even join one of the classes if his training needs to be brushed up,” Ransom suggests.

“That’s a great idea,” Van agrees. “We can do that once we get home, after we’ve relaxed for a few days at least.”

“Van’s right, let’s get out of here,” River says.

It only takes a few more moments for everyone to grab their stuff and then head back through the hallways, and down to the main hall where the portal is opened in the middle of the entrance way, ready to take us home.

“Did you find Ribit?” Mabel asks me as soon as we get down there.

I shake my head, “No.”

“That’s okay, I’ll tell her that you said goodbye.” She levels me with a look, “And that you’re coming back for a visit.”

I chuckle, “I am definitely coming back for a visit.”

“Good,” she tells me. A twinkle appears in her eye, “Tell Sully that I said hello, and that he still owes me that beer.”

I stare at her in surprise for a few moments while my brain tries to compute what she just said.

“Wait a second, did you say Sully?” Griff asks.

“That’s what I thought she said,” I exclaim. I’m glad that someone else has confirmed that I definitely heard what I thought I heard, because for a minute there, I thought I was going crazy.

“You know Sully?” Reed asks, his eyebrows high on his forehead in surprise.

“Of course,” Mabel replies as she ushers us toward the portal.

“Should I bother asking how you know him?” I ask.

Mabel’s smile is full of secrets, and she says, “Probably not, Dear. Now, off with you. It’s time for you to go home.”

“I’ll second that,” Ransom agrees.

Looking up at Coen, I grab his hand, “Come on, let’s go home.”

His eyes fill with a swirl of emotions, and he mutters, “Home.”

Still holding hands, I take one last look around the castle.

“By Castle, thank you for looking out for us, I’ll see you again soon,” I say, not caring if everyone thinks I’m crazy.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Castle has never reacted in that way before,” Mabel mutters in awe, as random stones all over the entryway start to flash and light up with different colors.

I grin, “Castle is special.”

Mabel studies me closely, “I’d wager that he’s not the only one.”

I shrug. I don’t really know what to say to that.

“Come on, the guys will be waiting for us,” Coen says, squeezing my hand.

“Bye, Mabel,” I say for the last time.

As we step through the portal, I feel the familiar sensation as it transports us, and I say a quick plea to anyone who is listening that this portal is actually going to take us home, and this isn’t some weird fucked up last trial or something. I really wouldn’t put it past the Choosing to decide that we need to get to know our new team member, Coen, and throw us into another life-threatening situation.

“We wondered where you guys had gotten to,” Reed says as soon as we come out the other side.

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